High-Speed Automotive Databus May Reach Production in 2006

The automotive industry's "databus of the future" moved closer to production recently, as two major electronic suppliers unveiled FlexRay-based chips, and BMW indicated it may roll out its first FlexRay-based vehicles in 2006.

The announcements served notice that the FlexRay databus, which was supposed to pave the way for drive-by-wire vehicle technology, is being positioned for a broader automotive role. BMW has acknowledged it will employ FlexRay as a data backbone for damper controls in active suspensions, ultimately reaching production in late 2006 or early 2007. Industry engineers also indicated that the time-triggered, high-speed bus protocol could soon serve in airbags, antilock brakes, adaptive cruise control, lane-departure and collision avoidance systems.

"Originally, FlexRay was intended as a way to make drive-by-wire happen," notes Joerg-Michael Schneider, senior director of marketing for Philips Semiconductors' Automotive Business. "But we're seeing that many of the initial applications are using the high bandwidth and short latency (times) that FlexRay offers."

In October, Philips delivered the world's first "FlexRay system solution," rolling out a transceiver and ARM 9-based microcontroller with an embedded FlexRay Version 2.1 communication controller. Freescale Semiconductor followed suit in December, unveiling a 16-bit core with integrated FlexRay module and a FlexRay node controller. Freescale says the two new devices are well-suited to chassis control, body electronics and powertrain applications.

FlexRay, which is backed by a powerful consortium of the world's biggest automakers and suppliers, is seen as an extremely important technology for the future of the automotive industry because it supplies a combination of high data bandwidth and time-triggered operation. Time-triggered operation is considered a must for by-wire systems — in which physical links to the steering and brakes are severed and replaced with data wires — because it ensures that messages from the driver won't be lost in the complex data shuffle of future vehicles. Increasingly, however, automotive engineers are finding they need FlexRay's 10 Mbit/sec bandwidth and its short latency times for other future safety-critical systems.

Ultimately, however, most engineers expect FlexRay to absorb many of CAN's roles because its higher bandwidth makes it a better fit as vehicles electronics proliferate.

"In 10 years, as the number of vehicle nodes increases, we expect every node to have a FlexRay controller and transceiver," Schneider says. "Eventually, we're talking about hundreds of millions of devices."

In December, Freescale rolled out a stand-alone 16-bit FlexRay controller (MC9S12XFR) and a node controller (MFR4300) for FlexRay-based safety-critical applications.

A few weeks ago, Ford Motor Co. quietly announced that it was rolling out a new wrinkle to the powerful safety feature called stability control, adding even more lifesaving potential to a technology that has already been very successful.

It won't be too much longer and hardware design, as we used to know it, will be remembered alongside the slide rule and the Karnaugh map. You will need to move beyond those familiar bits and bytes into the new world of software centric design.

People who want to take advantage of solar energy in their homes no longer need to install a bolt-on solar-panel system atop their houses -- they can integrate solar-energy-harvesting shingles directing into an existing or new roof instead.

Focus on Fundamentals consists of 45-minute on-line classes that cover a host of technologies. You learn without leaving the comfort of your desk. All classes are taught by subject-matter experts and all are archived. So if you can't attend live, attend at your convenience.